This is a yamadori prunus cistena or purple leaf sand cherry. I collected in 2009 in the dead of summer and therefor the majority of it died off which was unfortunate because it had a really great base. BUT im trying to still make something of it and hone my carving skills in the process. There is one live line up this tree and the tree itself is years from being worth a damn but I'm trying to get the base shaped up before I cut back the sacrificial top. (maybe in the spring, not really sure yet) Ultimately i'm hoping to get it be a nice austere spring image with the purple/pink flowers on an angular, rough silhouette. I'll try and get some better shots tomorrow afternoon. Let me know what you think. Thanks

Thanks for the feed back everyone. Owen, it will be the final angle but I'm planning on repotting it this spring and was hoping it would give a better idea once I see where the live roots are and how much of the dead ones have to be carved off. I also don't have photoshop on this computer anymore (damn you OS X update!! ) or I would play with some ideas and post them. I would love to know what your ideas are. Thanks again.

i'm sorry I just noticed that in my last post I said, "it will be the final angle..." what meant to say is that is will *not* be the final angle due to the reasons I stated before. I can see what you're saying about the 30-60deg idea, it definitely seems it needs a dramatic tilt. The spring soil flush will tell all. thanks again.

SO this one has pushed out a few more future design possibilities this spring. I was hoping to repot this year but didn't have a good pot for it and it seemed like it was begining a good period of recovery and renewed strength so I decided to wait. Looking at it last fall a new "front" struck me as a possiblitly so I will play around with it where it is. Thanks